Taliban foes mourn loss of fighter

Los Angeles Times

JABAL OS SARAJ, Afghanistan — In the shabby teahouses of northern Afghanistan, men with Kalashnikov assault rifles gathered Monday to drink sugary green tea, talk about the U.S. attack on the enemy Taliban, to pray and remember the dead.

This day, the talk turned to one of the first opposition casualties in a civil war suddenly reignited by the American-led campaign against the Taliban. Said, 18, was killed in an intense exchange of fire a few hours after the U.S. airstrikes began.

He was laid to rest Monday by his family and comrade fighters.

Said’s unit came under fierce fire near Bagram, 22 miles north of Kabul, on Sunday. Hit by machine-gun fire in a trench, he was killed immediately.

Said was a young man with a strong competitive edge: He always wanted to be first at whatever he did. And he became one of the first to fall in the renewed fighting with the Taliban.

Del Agha told Said’s parents that his friend’s fate had been "all in the hands of Allah."

The victim’s father responded with similar platitudes: "It had to be. It was for our country."

Said’s mother looked on, tears streaming down her face.